Bulldogs Blow Past Punchless Pointers

— Since Van Buren opened its Clair Bates Arena five years ago, no team had come in and simply overwhelmed the Pointers.

On Tuesday night, though, Fayetteville was just too much for Van Buren by blowing the game open in the second half in a 68-30 win in 7A/6A-West Conference play.

The Bulldogs (12-3, 2-0) slowly built a double-digit lead at halftime, then blew the Pointers out in the second half, invoking the mercy rule with a 30-point lead early in the final period.

“They are a very impressive team and they went to another level in the second half,” Pointers coach Randy Loyd said. “They are a tough matchup for anyone and I see them going a long way this year (in the postseason).”

Fayetteville coach Kyle Adams said the goal was to slow down the Van Buren 3-point shooters. After struggling with that for a half, the Bulldog defense put the clamps on the Pointer offense, allowing just eight second-half points, all in the third period.

“Van Buren can shoot the basketball so well, they can make a run at any time,” Adams said. “I thought we competed our tails off defensively. We have been stressing our defense during the (holiday) break and at the start of conference.”

Loyd said with the Bulldogs’ front line of 6-10 Tyler McCullough and 6-8 Caleb Waitsman, baskets in the paint were going to be difficult since Van Buren’s only inside presence is 6-8 freshman Mitchell Smith.

“As big and athletic as they are, we knew we were not going to get a lot of baskets in the lane, so we had to have the outside shot and maybe we can slow down the game,” Loyd added. “But once they got the big lead, there was no reason to slow down because we had to catch up. We made a few shots in the first half, but we didn’t in the second half.”

The Pointers trailed 26-17 midway in the second period, but a 9-2 spurt increased the Bulldog advantage to 35-19.

Fayetteville then turned the game into a rout with a 15-3 run to start the second half to open up a 50-25 lead with 3:10 left. Manuale Watkins led the run with six points.

“What excites me on the defensive end was taking charges and we had that tonight,” Adams said. “One the offensive end, we had nearly as many assists as we did baskets which means we were unselfish with the basketball. That is what I like to see.”

McCullough finished with 18 to lead Fayetteville while Ja’wan Smith had 17 and Watkins added 12. Nick Pagel paced Van Buren with 12.

Both teams will be on the road Friday. The Bulldogs are at Rogers while the Pointers travel to Springdale Har-Ber.  

FAYETTEVILLE 68, VAN BUREN 30

Fayetteville 16       19       19       14 —  68

Van Buren 10 12 8 0 —  30

Fayetteville (12-3, 2-0): McCullough 18, Smith 17, Watkins 12, Waitsman 9, Conley 5, Prude 3, Boyd 2, Williamson 2.

Van Buren (7-7, 0-2): Pagel 12, Ray 7, Smith 4, Pearson 4, Harms 3.

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